Greater entropy leads to more explicit referential forms during language production

Speakers can refer to previously-mentioned words (e.g., the actor) using attenuated referring expressions such as pronouns (he), or elaborated referential forms such as repeating the original word (the actor). Predictability is theorized to influence form of reference during language production: More attenuated forms may be used to refer to more predictable words, presumably because predictable words are already active in memory, and therefore require less linguistic signal during subsequent reference. However, the reported results are mixed. The current study examines the effect of entropy, an information-theoretic metric that captures the predictability of all, not just one, referential candidate, on the production of referential forms. A meta-analysis combining data from multiple experiments (492 participants, 405 items) revealed that greater entropy leads to more explicit referential forms, suggesting that entropy might intensify the competition between referential candidates during language production, reducing total memory activation.